Numbers Game
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: The Mastermind returns, determined on seeking revenge on the Pussycats. Rated K Plus just in case. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Return of the Mastermind

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was originally going to be one of my crossover stories, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be better as a Josie fic. Anyway, this is a "sequel" let's say, to the episode "Never Mind a Mastermind." Also, minor OC appearance here, my "Jack of All Trades," if you will, Robert Sanderson. You won't be seeing much of him, that's about all I've got to tell you._

Another day, and another gig for Josie and the Pussycats. They were playing at a hotel in the San Francisco area. A friend of Valerie's got them the gig. Her friend was a photographer, who had taken some photos of the Pussycats awhile back. He was staying at the hotel when he heard the manager talk about needing a good band for the weekend, and Valerie's friend showed him a photo he took of the Pussycats, and they were hired on the spot. After Valerie's friend make a quick call to Alexander, the group was on it's way to San Francisco.

"I can't believe they want us to play without hearing what we sound like first," Josie said.

"Robert said they liked the photos he took of us playing," Valerie replied. "He also said this guy doesn't care what we sound like. He just wanted someone who looked good."

"Your friend Robert can make anyone look good," Alexandra said. "Even the three of you."

"Golly, thanks, Alexandra!" Melody shouted with a giggle. "Now, why on earth don't people think you're sweet?"

Only Melody would think that was a compliment. No one said anything, though. Alan decided to turn on the radio for the time being. A song by the Primates was playing. Halfway through the second verse, the song was interrupted.

"We interrupt this program for a fast breaking news story," the announcer said. "The diabolical criminal master of disguise known as The Mastermind has escaped from an Amsterdam prison early this morning."

"The Mastermind?" Josie repeated. "Wasn't he that faceless guy who tried to steal that anti-gravity device?"

"That's him," Valerie said, turning off the radio.

"You don't think he'd come after us, do you?" Alex asked, nervously.

"Relax, Chicken Little Brother," Alexandra said. "He escaped from Amsterdam this morning, and we're in San Francisco. There's no way in the world he'll find us."

But, as usual, Alexandra was going to be proved wrong, for at that very moment, at San Francisco International Airport, a plane flying in from Amsterdam had just made it's landing, and the passengers were getting off. One passenger went to the baggage claim and picked up a suitcase labeled "A. Nonomuss." Once Mr. Nonomuss rented a car, he drove out onto the highway, and headed for the city. He drove around, until he came to what looked like an old factory. He stopped the car, climbed out, and looked around for signs of life. There was no one around, and the factory was silent. Mr. Nonomuss found the front door unlocked, and he walked inside. The factory was practically empty. Some of the machinery was still there, enough to tell him that this had once been a cannery. All he knew was that it had obviously been abandoned for years. Mr. Nonomuss smiled and laughed under his breath.

"This will do quite nicely," he said. He put down his suitcase, and proceeded to take off his face, which was actually a latex mask. When the mask was removed, it revealed a faceless man. It was none other than The Mastermind himself.

"Now then," he said. "To find those meddling Pussycats. We'll see how resourceful they are now."

The Mastermind opened his suitcase, which was filled with several disguises for several occasions. He pulled one out that made him look like a typical American tourist, hopped into the rental car, and went Pussycat Hunting.

In the meantime, the Pussycats were pulling up to a swank hotel. A man in his early thirties with neck-length dark hair (with bangs that hung into his face) and square shaped rose-tinted glasses was standing in front of the doorway. He had a black and silver camera hanging around his neck, a black bag slung over his shoulder, and a silver carrying case resting on the ground next to him. When he saw the Pussycats' bus stop, he raised his camera, and began taking pictures. Valerie was first off the bus.

"Practicing for the Paparazzi?" she asked.

"Very comical, Val," the man said, lowering the camera, but he was smiling. The others got off the bus as he closed the case, and stood up just as the others got off the bus.

"Hi, Robert!" Melody shouted, wrapping the photographer in a big hug, which Robert ultimately returned.

"I've always loved your greetings, Mel," Robert said. Then he turned to Josie. "Hey, Jo, whattaya know?"

"Hi, Robert," Josie said, laughing, and rolling her eyes at Robert's corny comment. "I thought you'd have left town by now."

"I would've, Josie," Robert said, pushing his glasses up on his nose. They usually slid. "But I got a call from the editors of _Teen Scene Magazine_ and they want me to work on a project."

"What kind of project?" Alan asked.

"Just shooting around," Robert said. "Taking pictures of people. Mostly girls. All I know is what they told me. And that's all they told me. It's another freelance gig, but it pays the rent. Come on inside."

"This is a nice hotel," Valerie said, looking around. "How did you manage to swing this, Robert?"

"A little power of persuasion," Robert said. "And the fact that my brother-in-law's father owns this hotel chain. And it doesn't hurt to throw in two Forty-Niners tickets."

The others laughed and walked into the hotel lobby. There they met Francis P. Kennedy, the owner of the hotel, and Arthur Humboldt, the manager.

"Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Humboldt," Robert said. "I'd like you to meet Josie and the Pussycats."

"They look a little different from the photo you showed us, Sanderson," Mr. Humboldt said.

"That's because we're not in costume, sir," Josie said. "Robert took that photo while we were on stage in our Pussycat outfits."

"Well, if you sound as good as you look," Mr. Humboldt said. "Then you've got a job. But even if you're completely tone deaf, you got a job anyway."

"Sounds like you're set, Josie," Alexandra said. "Finally, a job that's perfect for you. Talent not required."

Josie merely rolled her eyes. A couple of hours later, the Pussycats were ready to go on. As usual, they were a hit with everybody. Except Alexandra.

"I should be the star," she grumbled. "And not Josie!"

Nobody paid any never mind to her. As the Pussycats were playing, a car drove up to the hotel. It was the Mastermind, still in disguise. He saw a poster outside on the wall reading "Josie & The Pussycats." He drove the car into the alley behind the hotel, and went inside. He saw the Pussycats up on stage, as well as Alan, Alex, and Alexandra sitting at a table with Robert, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Humboldt. They were all listening to the band, though Robert kept snapping photos of the Pussycats throughout the set. The Mastermind smirked. After a quick costume change, he walked into the hotel's club. The Pussycats had finished their set, and they sat down at the table with the others.

"That sounded great, Josie," Alan said.

"And you looked great, too," Robert said. "All three of you. Wait'll the editors at _Teen Scene Magazine_ get a load of these!"

"Hmph," Alexandra grumbled. "I'll show you what looks great! Get that camera of yours ready, Robert. I'll give you something to take a picture of!"

Alexandra stood up in the center of the room and began to strike poses. Robert began taking pictures of her, using a whole roll of film, just to humor her. All was going well, until Robert decided to switch flashes when he reloaded.

"I've been dying to try out the new Polordak Flash Three Thousand," Robert said, attaching the new flash to his camera. "Give me your prettiest smile, Alexandra!"

Alexandra smiled, and Robert pushed the shutter button. A blinding flash filled the room. Alexandra screamed.

"I can't see!" she yelled, as she staggered around. "Somebody do something!"

Alexandra stumbled around, until she bumped directly into a waiter, who spilled a tray full of drinks on her. By that time her vision had cleared.

"Ooohhh!" she shouted. "You and your Polordak Flash Three Thousand, Robert!"

The others just laughed. Sebastian, Alexandra's pet cat, snickered. Alexandra walked back to the table and sat down, just as a man in an expensive business suit approached the table.

"Good evening," he said. "My name is Mr. Masters. I represent Master Music, and I know good music when I hear it."

"If you say you know good music," Alexandra said. "Then _why_ are you talking to _them_?"

"Do you ladies have a manager?" Mr. Masters asked, ignoring Alexandra.

"They sure do," Alex said, standing up. "I'm Alexander Cabot, the Third, the Pussycats' band manager."

"Excellent," Mr. Masters said. "Mr. Cabot, I'd like to discuss business with you. Privately."

"Sure thing," Alex said. "I'll be back in a flash, you guys."

"Please, brother dear," Alexandra said, rubbing her eyes. "Don't use the word flash! Just hearing that word makes my eyes hurt!"

Sebastian once again snickered. Mr. Masters and Alex left just then.

"This could be our big break!" Josie shouted, excitedly.

"I wonder what Mr. Masters needs to talk to Alex alone about?" Valerie asked.

"He's probably telling him the truth about you," Alexandra replied. "Mr. Masters may think you have the look, but you obviously don't have the sound."

"Come on, Alexandra," Alan said. "I think the Pussycats have a good chance of getting this record deal."

"It must be a new company," Robert said, as he reloaded his camera.

"What makes you say that?" Alan asked.

"I live out in Hollywood, and I have friends in high places," Robert explained. "One of these friends happens to be Hollywood's top rated disc jockey, so he knows people from all the labels. I've never heard of Master Music until now."

"Well, we haven't, either," Josie said. "But how else is a record company going to get started?"

"I know, Jose, I know," Robert said. "But . . . . well, I have this sixth sense about these things. I can tell when there's something fishy about a person. And there is definitely something fishy about this Mr. Masters."

"Uh oh . . . ." Melody said suddenly.

"What's wrong, Melody?" Valerie asked.

"My ears are starting to wiggle," Melody said, as she moved her hair back. Sure enough, her ears were wiggling. In fact, they were flapping so hard, she felt like she was about to take off into the air any second.

"Oh no," Josie said. "Every time Melody's ears start wiggling, it means we're in trouble!"

"We'd better go find Alex," Alan said.

The Pussycats and their friends got up from the table and left the club. Sebastian began sniffing around, trying to find out where Mr. Masters and Alex had gone. He picked up the scent at a corridor that led to the hotel's kitchen. Since Mr. Kennedy was Robert's brother-in-law's father, Robert got the run of the hotel, so he and the others were able to get in without being thrown out by the chefs.

"Are you sure this is the right way, Sebastian?" Josie asked. Sebastian meowed.

"I'm sure he's sure," Melody said with a giggle. "Sebastian's the smartest cat in the whole world!"

"Kind of strange to talk business in the back of the hotel kitchen," Valerie commented. "Do you know where this door leads, Robert?"

"The alley," Robert said. "There's a trash dumpster out there. The kitchen staff take the garbage out there and dumps it."

"Oh golly . . . ." Melody said, sounding a little nervous. She held her hands over her ears. "There go my ears again!"

"Something's telling me we're in for some big trouble," Alan commented.

"HELP!" the gang heard Alex shriek from outside. Alan and Robert pushed open the back door, and found Alex and Mr. Masters. Mr. Masters was holding Alex around the shoulders with one arm, while his other hand was clamped firmly over Alex's mouth to prevent him from screaming again. Alex was struggling to break loose. Immediately, Robert took a couple of steps back into the building and began snapping pictures of the scene. He figured they might come in handy. No one noticed him.

"I see we have company," Mr. Masters said, looking at Josie and the others.

Before anything else could happen, Sebastian ran toward Mr. Masters, and jumped on top of his head, clawing, biting, hissing, and yowling. His claw hooked onto Mr. Masters's face, and got stuck. Mr. Masters reached up, ultimately letting go of Alex, and grabbed the cat by the scruff of the neck, and throwing him off his head, which caused a tear in his face. Mr. Masters's face was nothing more than a latex mask, revealing none other than . . . .

"The Mastermind!" Josie gasped once she saw the faceless man standing there.

"I'm getting out of here!" Alex shouted, and he started to make a run for it, but the Mastermind grabbed him by the arm, and tied his hands behind his back.

"You're not going anywhere, except with me," the Mastermind said, shoving Alex into the back seat of the car. Then he slammed the door shut, locking it from the inside, and ran over to the driver's seat. Before he got in, he turned to the Pussycats and their friends.

"If you all even think about calling the police," he warned. "Then your friend may not make it through the night. If you wish for him to remain healthy, then you'll go back into the hotel, and wait. And tell no one!"

With that note, the Mastermind climbed into the car and drove off, practically breaking the sound barrier. Once he was out of sight, the Pussycats and their friends walked back inside the hotel, and went up to the room Alan and Alex were staying in. They didn't have any other choice. After about five minutes, Alexandra picked up the phone.

"What are you doing?" Valerie asked.

"I'm going to call the police!" Alexandra shouted.

"You heard what the Mastermind said," Josie reminded her, grabbing her arm before she could start dialing. "He might hurt Alex if he finds out we called the police!"

"If you ask me, he's just bluffing," Alexandra said, pulling her arm away from the redhead.

"I don't think we should take that chance," Alan said. "You remember what happened the last time we got mixed up with the Mastermind."

"Yeah, you, Alex, and Melody ended up being tied to a large gear in a windmill," Valerie said. "Which was about to mesh with another gear and mesh the three of _you_."

"Well, then, Miss Genius, what do you suggest we do?" Alexandra asked Valerie, rather impatiently.

"Unfortunately, I don't think there's much we _can_ do," Valerie said, sighing.

"I guess we'll just have to wait for the Mastermind to make the next move," Alan said, with a shrug.

"And who knows how long that's going to take," Josie said.

Alexandra picked up the phone again and began dialing.

"_Now_ what are you doing?" Robert asked, as he took the used film out of his camera.

"I'm calling room service," Alexandra said. "If the Mastermind is going to make us wait all night, I'm going to get some dinner sent up here."


	2. The First Clue

As the Pussycats sat around the hotel waiting, the Mastermind had pulled his car around the back of the old, abandoned factory. He pulled Alex out of the back seat of the car, and took him inside. He led him up a flight of steps into what used to be an office, and practically threw him in. Then he slammed the door shut on him, locking it as well. He had a few things to take care of. Alex looked around the room. Though the factory was abandoned, there were still furniture and machinery around. Alex spotted a phone on the desk, and went for it. He rubbed his hands against the corner of the desk, until the ropes snapped off.

"I hope this phone works," he said, picking up the receiver. He put it to his ear and heard a dial tone. He breathed of relief and dialed as fast as he could.

Back at the hotel, the phone in Alan's room rang. The others jumped once they heard it.

"That might be the Mastermind," Josie said as Alan picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Alan asked.

"Alan!" Alex shouted. "Boy, am I glad this phone works!"

"Alex!" Alan shouted. He put his hand over the receiver and turned to the girls. "It's Alex, girls. Alex! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Alex said. "But listen, Alan, I don't have too much time to talk here. The Mastermind might come back at any minute, and the phone might konk out as well. I don't know what he has up his sleeve, but something's telling me it's not good."

"Okay, where are you?"

"Well, I don't know exactly, but it's kind of like . . . ."

Alex's voice was suddenly cut off. The line had been disconnected.

"Alex?" Alan asked. "Alex!"

"What's going on?" Josie asked.

"I don't know," Alan said. "Sounds like we've been cut off somehow."

"Let me have the phone," Alexandra said, grabbing it from Alan. "Alex! Alex! Alexander Cabot! This is your sister speaking! You answer me this minute!"

Alexandra didn't get an answer. And she wouldn't. The Mastermind had come into the room as Alex was trying to get word to the others about his whereabouts. When he discovered his prisoner was on the phone, he unplugged it. Alex wasn't aware of his presence until the Mastermind had grabbed him from behind.

"Trying to let your friends know where I'm hiding, eh?" he asked, as he dragged Alex to the other end of the room. He threw him into a chair, and began to tie him to it.

"This should hold you for awhile," he said.

"Wh-wh-what are you gonna do with me?" Alex asked, nervously.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," the Mastermind replied, taking a roll of duct tape out of the desk drawer.

"You and your friends think you're so clever," he said. "Well, we'll just see how clever they are."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Just a little game, really," the Mastermind said. "We'll just see if they can find out where I'm hiding."

The Mastermind laughed as he tore a piece of duct tape off the roll and placed it over Alex's mouth. Alex let out a shriek, but it was muffled by the tape.

"And, as a matter of fact," the Mastermind said. "I'm hoping they will."

Josie and the gang spent the entire night and most of the next morning waiting for something to happen. Nobody got a wink of sleep. They were too nervous.

"Something better happen soon," Alan said.

"A lot of help your friend Robert is," Alexandra said to Valerie. "He's gone to develop his photos while we're stuck here waiting all night."

"Cool it, Alexandra," Robert said, coming into the room. "I was taking photos of the crime scene yesterday. They may come in handy. And besides which, as I was developing them, Mr. Kennedy asked me to bring something up to you guys. It arrived at the front desk about ten minutes ago."

Robert handed an envelope to Alan. Alan looked at it. There was no return address or stamp, for that matter, so it obviously wasn't mailed. In fact, the only thing written on the envelope was "Josie & The Pussycats." Alan opened it, and pulled out a letter, and an index card. The index card had a series of numbers on it:

**75292697 423 7464**

"Pussycats," Alan read. "The enclosed index card will lead you to where your friend is. You do not have very much time. Each number on the card represents a letter. You must figure out which letter each number represents."

"And that's going to be easier said than done," Valerie said, looking at the index card.

"Is there anything else in the letter that will give us a clue, Alan?" Josie asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Alan said. "The rest of the letter says that some numbers do not represent the same letters. And it's signed M. M., and there's only one person that could be."

"Mighty Mouse?" Melody asked.

"No, Melody," Josie said.

"Mickey Mouse," Melody said.

"No, Melody," Valerie said, sounding a little exasperated.

"Then how about Minnie?" Melody suggested.

"No, you ding-a-ling!" Alexandra shouted, losing all her patients entirely. "M. M. stands for Mastermind!"

"Oh," Melody said.

"Any ideas on how to crack the code, Val?" Josie asked, looking over Valerie's shoulder at the index card.

"Not a one," Valerie said, handing the card to Robert. "Maybe you could figure out something, Robert. You've always been good at these things. Remember junior high school? In math class, we would get these worksheets where we would solve the math problem, and the answer equalled a letter, and wherever the answer to the problem was on the worksheet, you filled in that letter, until you decoded a message. Robert was always finishing those first."

"Yeah, but this is a little different," Robert said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "For one thing, there aren't any math problems on this thing to solve."

"Maybe the numbers represent letters of the alphabet," Josie suggested. "You know, A equals one, B equals two, C equals three, and so on and so on?"

"Well, it's worth a shot," Alan said.

"Follow me," Robert said. "I have some stuff in my van we can use."

The group followed Robert out to the back of the hotel to where his van was. Most of what was inside of it was photography equipment, but he did have a some notepads, pencils, pens, and some other stuff. Valerie wrote out each letter of the alphabet and numbered them one through twenty-six. Valerie then took the index card, and looked at it. She wrote down the numbers on another piece of paper, and matched them with the corresponding letters.

"Okay, gang," she said. "Here's what we ended up with. G-E-B-I-B-F-I-G, D-B-C, G-D-F-D."

"Gebibfig Debick Gediffed," Melody said. Then she giggled. "Sounds like a tongue twister!"

"What in the world does that mean?!" Alexandra shouted.

"It means we got the code wrong," Robert groaned, ripping the piece of paper off the pad, crumpling it up, and throwing it over his shoulder. Sebastian let his instincts take over, and he began playing with the crumpled up piece of paper, just for his own amusement.

"We'd better try something else," Alan said.

"Gee, I wish my mother hadn't given away my decoder ring," Melody said. "Then maybe we could crack the code."

"Maybe it's a series of phone numbers," Josie said. She took another pad, a pencil and began working with the numbers. Using the San Francisco area code, this is what she came up with:

**752-9269, 742-3746, 4**

"No good!" she shouted, despairingly. "There's one left over!"

"Yeah, but you might be onto something, Josie," Alan said, and he rearranged the numbers:

**752-926-9742, 374-64**

"I don't think that's going to help," Valerie said. "There are still too many leftover numbers."

"Wait a minute," Robert replied. "Alan, I think you've got it. Seven-five-two could be the area code. Nine-two-six-nine-seven-four-two could be the actual number, and three-seven-four-six-four could be an extension."

"Robert, that's it!" Josie shouted. She jumped up, hugged Robert, and gave him a big kiss on his cheek.

"Boy, I oughta do this more often!" Robert shouted with a laugh.

"Maybe this is the phone number to where the Mastermind is holding Alex," Alan said. "We'll call it and find out."

Robert took out his portable phone, and dialed the number. He waited for an extremely long period, until he finally got the automatic message.

"We're sorry," the voice said. "But the number you are trying to reach is not in service. Please hang up and try again later."

"No way," Robert said. "The number doesn't exist."

"That figures," Alexandra grumbled. "We'd better think of another way to crack this code."

"Man, TV detectives sure make it look easy," Robert commented.

"Hey, I just got an idea!" Melody shouted with a giggle.

"_You _have an idea?!" Alexandra shouted, incredulously. "This I gotta hear!"

"We'll call one eight hundred Sleuth!" Melody shouted. "I saw a commercial for it once. If you need help solving a problem, you call one eight hundred Sleuth, and they'll solve it for you! It only costs three dollars a minute!"

"Oh brother," Alexandra groaned. "Melody, that's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!"

"Yeah, Mel, those one eight hundred number things are just scams," Robert said. "I tried this with a psychic hotline once, and I ended up spending three hundred dollars for that phone call, only because I was on hold forever!"

"Well, it's worth a shot," Melody said, taking Robert's phone from him. She dialed one eight hundred, but then stopped. "Uh oh."

"What's wrong, Melody?" Valerie asked.

"I guess we can't call one eight hundred Sleuth," Melody said. "At least not on this phone."

"Don't tell me my phone's dead," Robert said, grabbing the phone. "I just charged it last night!"

"No, it isn't that, Robert," Melody said. "I can't call because you don't have any letter buttons on your phone. Only numbers. We have to find a phone with both letter and number buttons."

"Oh, Melody!" Alexandra shouted, extremely exasperated. "Each letter on the telephone represents a different letter! Two represents A, B, and C, three represents D, E, and F, four represents G, H, and I, five represents J, K, and L, six represents M, N, and O, seven represents P, Q, R, and S, eight represents T, U, and V, and nine represents W, X, Y, and Z! If you wanted to call one eight hundred Sleuth, you'd be calling one eight hundred seven-five-three-eight-eight-four!"

Valerie, Josie, Alan, and Robert glanced at each other.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Robert asked.

"We sure are," Alan said. "Alexandra, you're a genius!"

"But naturally," Alexandra replied, even though she had no idea what she just did.

"Let's get to work!" Valerie shouted. The four of them grabbed pencils and notepads and began scribbling ferociously. Alexandra, Melody, and Sebastian watched them.

"What are you guys doing now?" Alexandra asked.

"Trying out an idea," Alan said. "And I think this is the one that's going to do it."

"All we have to do is write down the letters each number represents from the phone," Valerie said. "And try the different combinations until we find one that spells out an actual word."


	3. The Jewelry Store and the School Yard

The group got busy and tried out different combinations of letters. Finally, Valerie came up with the answer.

"I think I've got it," she said. "The only words that make sense are Playboys Ice Ring."

"Oh no," Josie groaned. "Another cryptic message we have to figure out."

"The Mastermind sure isn't making this easy for us," Alan remarked. "Playboys Ice Ring."

"Now what in the world does _that _ mean?" Alexandra demanded.

"Hugh Hefner owns an ice skating rink?" Robert suggested.

"Oh Robert!" Josie shouted. "Be serious!"

"It was just a suggestion," Robert said, shrugging. He went to the front of his van and turned on the radio. The song "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis and the Playboys was playing. Robert was about to change the station when Valerie stopped him.

"Hold it!" she shouted. "I think I just figured it out."

"What do you mean, Val?" Alan asked.

"Well, ice is a slang term for diamond," Valerie said. "Ice ring must mean diamond ring, and the song 'This Diamond Ring' was sung by Gary Lewis and the Playboys."

"By George, I think she's got it!" Robert shouted in a faux British accent.

"Who's George?" Melody asked.

"Never mind, Melody," Josie said. "Come on, let's go!"

"Wait a sec," Robert said, handing Alan his phone, and the others notepads and pencils. "Take those with you. You might need them. And as for the phone, you might need it as well. I'll stay here in case the Mastermind calls the hotel. That way, I can get in touch with you quickly if something happens. And you guys can call me if you need back up."

"Great, thanks a lot, Robert," Valerie said. "We really appreciate your help."

"Like the old saying goes," Robert said. "What are friends for? Good luck, you guys."

"Thanks," Alan said. "Come on, cats! Let's move!"

The Pussycats raced back into the hotel. Their first goal was to find a phone book and look up jewelry stores in town. Unfortunately, there were about five of them listed.

"Oh golly," Josie said. "How do we know which one is the right one?"

"There isn't any time to check all of them," Alan said.

"I think I have an idea," Valerie replied. "There are five of us, six including Sebastian. Let's each take a store, and meet back in the hotel lobby."

"That's just what we'll have to do," Alan said. "Let's split."

The group divided up the stores and left. Alexandra was sure this was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially since she had no idea what she was looking for, and neither did the others. But Alexandra did have an advantage over the others, and that was Sebastian.

"Okay, Sebastian," Alexandra said to her furry friend as she walked inside her store. "I'll keep the clerk busy while you look around here for clues."

Sebastian nodded, and began sniffing around. Alexandra walked up to the display cases, and pretended to look at rings. Sebastian wandered behind the counter, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. He finally spotted something in one of the display cases. It looked like another index card. Using his claw, Sebastian unlocked the display case, opened it, pulled out the card, and ran off with it. Alexandra saw him, and left.

"Let's see what you've got, Sebastian," Alexandra said. She looked at the card and groaned. "Ooooohhhh! Another stupid series of numbers! Well, we'd better go back to the hotel and meet the others and figure out what this one means."

Sebastian grumbled, and followed Alexandra back to the hotel. The others were already there.

"Anybody have any luck?" Alan asked.

"None whatsoever," Josie said with a sigh.

"I couldn't find anything either," Melody said. "Except a whole lot of jewels."

"I came up empty, too," Valerie said.

"That makes it unanimous," Alan sighed.

"No it doesn't," Alexandra said, waving the index card in front of the others. "Look what we've found. Another series of numbers on an index card."

Alan looked at the card. This time, the numbers were:

**63 263 58546**

"Let's get to work cracking this code," Valerie said. "And hope it leads us to the Mastermind and Alex."

The others nodded and wrote down the numbers on their notepads. Finally, Josie got something that made sense.

"Me and Julio," she said.

"That doesn't make any sense whatsoever!" Alexandra shouted.

"No one said this was going to be easy," Melody said, with a shrug.

"Wait a minute," Alan said. "Isn't there a Paul Simon song called Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard?"

"Yeah!" Josie shouted. "Maybe that's it!"

"Either that or a Mexican restaurant," Melody suggested.

"Oh brother," Valerie groaned.

The gang raced for the schoolyard. It was Sunday, so no one was there, except maybe a janitor or two inside. But whatever the case, they couldn't get inside the school to search it. But Sebastian could.

"Okay, Sebastian," Alan said. "You sneak into the school through the air conditioning vent, and look around. See if the Mastermind is holding Alex somewhere inside."

"And the rest of us will check the schoolyard for any clues," Valerie said.

"Like another secret message?" Melody asked.

"Exactly," Valerie said. "I don't think the Mastermind would be hiding here, anyway. But it wouldn't hurt to check."

"Meow," Sebastian said, and ran through the vent. The others got to work in the schoolyard.

"Nothing at the swing-set," Alexandra said, looking at each and every swing, and turning them over to see if a card was taped on the bottom of one.

"Nothing on, or under, the see saws," Valerie reported.

"Nothing around the monkey bars," Josie commented.

"Nothing in the sandbox," Alan replied.

"I've found something here in the jungle gym!" Melody called out.

"Is it another card, Melody?" Josie asked as she and the others ran over.

"No," Melody said.

"Well, what did you find?" Alan asked.

"I found that I'm stuck!" Melody shouted. She had tried to squeeze in through an opening and got stuck. The others groaned, and pulled her out.

"We'd better keep looking," Josie said.

"Right," Valerie replied. "And if we can't find anything out here, then we'll have to hope Sebastian found something in there."

The others nodded. And, as if that were a cue, Sebastian came running out of the air conditioning vent.

"Did you find anything, Sebastian?" Melody asked. Sebastian meowed, and shook his head.

"Well, we'd better keep looking," Alan said. "I can't think of any other place we can look that's relevant to Me and Julio."

Josie climbed up to the slide, and looked inside of it. It was one of those covered slides. She saw something on the top inside of the tube, and grabbed it, ultimately loosing her balance, and sliding down the slide.

"Hey Alan!" she called. "I think I've found something!"

"Good work, Josie," Alan said, pulling Josie to her feet.

"Nice hairdo," Alexandra said, sarcastically. Josie gave her a Look, and tried to smooth down her hair, which was sticking up in various places, due to the static electricity from the slide.

"Is it another code, Alan?" Valerie asked.

"Looks like it," Alan said, giving the card to Valerie:

**53736424 927 2 2855376**

"Here we go again," Alexandra groaned.

"Let's get to work," Valerie said.


	4. Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog

The gang sat down at a group of tables and began working.

"I think I've got it!" Melody shouted happily.

"Oh boy," Alexandra groaned. "This I've _got_ to hear!"

"Let's hear it, Melody," Alan said.

"Jeremiah was a bullfrog!" Melody shouted, giggling.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Alexandra yelled. "Jeremiah was a bullfrog?! That can't possibly be it!"

"Well, that's what I got," Valerie said.

"Me too," Alan said.

"And me," Josie replied. "And if I know my Three Dog Night, Jeremiah was a bullfrog was the first line in their song Joy to the World."

"I thought that was a Christmas song," Melody said.

"It is," Valerie said. "But Three Dog Night's Joy to the World was different. Now, what do we look for?"

"A bullfrog named Jeremiah?" Melody suggested.

"Oh Melody, be serious!" Alexandra shouted.

"Well, it's a start anyway," Alan said.

"You mean we're actually going to look for a frog named Jeremiah?!" Alexandra shouted, incredulously.

"Why not?" Josie said, shrugging. "It's the only lead we have so far."

"Hey, maybe we should call Robert," Melody said. "He knows lots of people. Maybe he knows a bullfrog named Jeremiah!"

Melody grabbed the phone from Alan and began dialing. Robert picked it up after about two rings.

"Hi, Robert," Melody said. "It's me, Melody! Listen, we were wondering, since you know people, do you know a bullfrog named Jeremiah?"

"A bullfrog named _what_?!" Robert shouted into the phone. "Did you just say a bullfrog named Jeremiah?"

"Yeah. Our last clue was Jeremiah was a bullfrog."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, really."

"Okay, give me a minute."

Robert paused, and thought this over. He ran through the song "Joy to the World" in his head, but he couldn't come up with anything. He finally figured it out and picked up his phone.

"Still there, Mel?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Melody said.

"Okay, I thought about this, and there's this miniature golf course at the edge of town. My sister goes there frequently, and she has told me at the eighteenth hole, you putt the ball into the mouth of this huge frog. The locals nicknamed the frog Jeremiah."

"Great! Thanks, Robert! Bye!"

Melody hung up and gave the phone back to Alan.

"Robert said that there's a miniature golf course with a bullfrog named Jeremiah!" she shouted.

"Well, then, let's go," Alan said.

The gang made it to the golf course in record time. It was practically deserted. That was a good thing. Then no one would notice what they were doing. They went to the eighteenth hole, and there was the biggest green frog any of them had ever seen, with the biggest mouth any of them had ever seen as well!

"Holey moley," Alan said.

"That's got to be Jeremiah," Valerie said. "Let's start looking."

Valerie got down on the ground and tried to go into the mouth, but she didn't get very far before she got stuck. She pulled herself out and groaned.

"This frog may have a big mouth," she said. "But it's not big enough."

"Maybe not for you," Alexandra said, holding up her cat. "But here's someone that can go in and get our clue."

Alexandra put Sebastian down, and the cat ran inside the frog's mouth. He looked around, until he spotted something up on a corner. He scaled the wall, grabbed the card, and ran out of the mouth.

"Good work, Sebastian," Alan said, taking the card. Then he sighed. "Here we go again."

**79464 66 2 7827**

"There has got to be an easier way to do this," Alexandra said.

"So far, it doesn't look like it," Josie said with a sigh.

The others had to agree with that, and they went to work translating. Finally, Alexandra got something.

"What I've got is swing on a star," Alexandra said.

"Oh brother, another weird message," Valerie groaned.

"I wonder what this one means," Josie said.

"That's simple, Josiekins," Alexandra said. "I'll bet it's a planetarium."

"What makes you say that, Alexandra?" Alan asked.

"The only other place it could be is a playground," Alexandra said. "And we were just at a playground, and the clue we found there led us to the bullfrog."

"She's got a point," Valerie said. "Come on, guys. We'd better get moving."

"Yeah," Josie said. "The sooner we find the next clue, the sooner we find Alex."

"I hope he's all right," Melody said, worried. "Golly, I'd hate to think what the Mastermind's going to do if we run out of time!"

"How much time do we have, anyway?" Alexandra asked.

"I don't know," Alan said. "All the note said was that we didn't have much time. The Mastermind didn't say exactly how much time we _did_ have."

"Then we'd better speed up the search," Valerie said.

The others nodded and hit the planetarium. Unfortunately, there was a sign on the door that said "Closed Sundays." But now was not the time to pay attention to signs like that.

"How do we get in?" Melody asked.

"Do your thing, Sebastian," Valerie said, picking up the cat, and holding him up to the lock on the door. Sebastian bared a claw, and began picking at the lock until the door opened.

"Way to go, Sebastian," Josie said. "You're definitely better than any lock pick!"

Josie and the gang walked inside the planetarium, and began looking around. They had to do this quickly, just in case a security guard was around. After several minutes of searching, Melody grabbed an index card off a projector. She looked at it, and then called to the others.

"Hey guys!" she shouted. "I've found the next clue!"

"Good work, Melody," Alan said, taking the card. He looked at it and sighed.

"Don't tell me," Alexandra said. "Another set of numbers."

"I'm afraid so," Alan replied.

**277537 7322437 2262627 263 73277**

"All these numbers are starting to give me a headache!" Alexandra shouted.

"Unfortunately, this is the only way to find the Mastermind," Valerie said.

"Gee, maybe we should try calling that psychic hotline Robert was talking about earlier," Melody said.

"Never mind, Melody," Josie said. "Let's just get to work finding out what this one means."


	5. Limes, Coconuts and Kumquats?

The gang left the planetarium, and quickly got to work. This one took a little while, due to the size of the message. They found the longer the series of numbers was, the longer it took to decode.

"I think I've got it, kids," Josie said. "Apples, peaches, bananas, and pears."

"Boy, that clue makes me hungry!" Melody shouted, and then giggled. "Maybe once we find it, we can eat it!"

"How can you think of eating at a time like this?" Alexandra scolded.

"I know just where we're headed this time," Valerie said, pointing in the distance. "Look over there."

"Oh goody!" Melody shouted. "A fruit stand! And look! It's got apples, and peaches, and bananas, and pears! And grapes, and oranges, and cherries, and strawberries, and blueberries, and . . . ."

"At least it'll be a little easier trying to find this clue," Alan said. "Melody, you distract the proprietor while the rest of us check out the fruit bins."

Melody nodded, and the group got to work. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be as easy as Alan thought, considering there was a lot of fruit to sift through. Melody was able to keep the proprietor busy.

"I'd like to buy a dozen coconuts and a dozen limes," she said.

"Whatta you want a dozen coconuts and limes for?" the proprietor (who had a very thick Italian accent) asked.

"I want to put the limes in the coconuts," Melody said. "My brother tried this once. He put a lime in a coconut, drank them both, and they cured his tummy ache!"

"That's-a some cure."

"Or did he put the lime in Coca-Cola? No, I think it was Coca-Cola. I think he said to me you put the lime in the Coke, you nut. I can't remember."

"Yeah, this-a kid, she's-a nut, all right."

"Well, if you don't have any limes or coconuts, how about pomagranates? I just love pomagranates!"

"No."

"Well, what about kumquats?"

Melody continued to ask if the proprietor had any other bizarre fruit. The others were still looking for the clue.

"This is like looking for a needle in a haystack!" Alexandra complained.

"We've got to keep going until we find it," Josie said. "You know it's the only way we can find Alex!"

"Wait a minute," Valerie said. "I think I've found it! Right here, buried in the oranges."

"How do we get it out without making a mess, and attracting attention?" Alan asked.

"Very slowly," Valerie said. She took hold of the index card and began to pull it slowly out.

"Oooh, this is wasting time!" Alexandra shouted. She shoved Valerie aside. "Let me do it!"

"No, Alexandra!" Valerie shouted. But it was too late. Alexandra yanked the card out from the bottom of the orange pile, and all the oranges spilled onto the ground, making a terrible racket. The proprietor was not amused.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Whatsamatta with you kids?! Whatta you think you doin'?!"

"I think that's our cue to split!" Alan shouted, and he and the others ran off.

"Come on, Melody!" Valerie called out.

"But I haven't asked him if he had any artichokes," Melody said.

"Never mind, Melody!" Josie shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

"Yeh, you kids go on-a, getta outta here!" the proprietor shouted. "And do-a me a favor! Don't-a comma back-a!"

Josie and the gang ran to a nearby coffee shop to decipher the clue. This one read:

**76453 96873 66 226343 226372**

"And here we go again," Alan said with a sigh.

"I wish that Mastermind would give us a better clue than this," Alexandra grumbled.

"I wish he'd given us exactly how much time we have," Valerie said, as she wrote down the numbers and their corresponding letters. "I hate to guess how much time is left for us to find out where he's hiding."

"Right," Alan nodded. "I guess all we can do is hope that we don't run out of time."

"If we haven't already," Alexandra said. "I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Mastermind has decided he's given us enough time to figure this out, and by the time we finally do find Alex, he'll already be . . . ."

"Don't even say it!" Josie interuppted, clamping her hand over Alexandra's mouth. "Really, Alexandra, how can you say such a thing? Especially about your own brother?!"

"Well, it could happen," Alexandra said, pulling Josie's hand off her mouth. "And it _does_ happen! Not just in the movies!"

"Oh golly, that's just too scary to think about!" Melody moaned. "I hope we find Alex soon. I'm worried."

"So are we, Melody," Valerie said. "But we're going to find him, and we're going to find him fast. I've just figured out the clue. It says smile, you're on Candid Camera."

"Like the television show _Candid Camera_?" Josie asked.

"That must mean the TV station," Alan said.

The group ran out of the coffee shop and hightailed it to the TV station. Nothing was going on in there. All the other shows that filmed there were closed for the day, and the crew for the evening news hadn't arrived yet.

"We'd better split up and search the sets," Alan said. "We'll cover more ground that way. The first one to find something, scream."

The quintet split up. Melody checked the set of a TV kiddie show. She looked underneath the bleachers where the audience sat, and in a box filled with stuffed animals, but she couldn't find anything. Valerie was looking for clues on the set of a program that taught kids about science, but there was nothing there, either. Alexandra and Sebastian were scouring an old western set, but all they found was a bunch of dust. Josie was on the set of a science fiction program about men from Mars and women from Venus. She checked the big spaceship in the center of the set, but found nothing. Alan was in the newsroom, looking around. He finally saw something taped to the lens of one of the big cameras, and he grabbed it.

"Eureeka!" he shouted, and ran outside to meet the others.

"I hope you found something, Alan, because we sure didn't!" Valerie shouted.

"I did," Alan said. "Here's our next clue."

**23 7873 86 9327 3569377 46 4244 28 843 465336 4283**

"Wow, that's a long one," Melody said.

"This is going to take awhile to decode," Valerie sighed.


	6. A Fishy Clue

The group got right down to work. They split the code into five different parts so they could work faster. Even Sebastian worked on the clue, but he worked on the whole thing, while the others worked on a section separately. Suddenly, Sebastian began meowing.

"What's up, Sebastian?" Alan asked. Sebastian handed him a piece of paper with the code written out on it.

"Hey, I think he's got it!" Josie shouted, looking at the sheet of paper. "It says be sure to wear flowers in your hair at the golden gate."

"The flowers in your hair is a line from a song by Scott McKenzie," Valerie said. "The song is called San Francisco."

"Does that mean we're going to San Francisco?" Melody asked.

"We're already _in_ San Francisco, dum-dum!" Alexandra shouted. "We have to look for something in the city."

"And I think I know what it is," Valerie said. "Golden Gate Bridge. If I know the song lyrics, there's no mention of any golden gate."

"Good thinking, Val," Alan said. "Let's go!"The gang caught a cab to the Golden Gate Bridge, but their task proved to be more difficult than they anticipated when they got there.

"Well, there it is," Alan said. "Now the question is where in the world could that clue be?"

"I am not climbing up that bridge to look for it," Alexandra said. "The wind will simply ruin my hair!"

"Oh boy," Josie said, looking at the bridge. "Do you really think the Mastermind would hide a clue somewhere on that bridge? It'll be dangerous to try to climb up those towers."

"Well, Sebastian," Valerie said. "Looks like it's up to you."

Sebastian took one look at the bridge, let out a shriek, and darted under a bush, and he wouldn't come out. There was no way in the world he was going to climb that bridge.

"Oh no you don't!" Alexandra shouted, grabbing her cat by the scruff of his neck. "Get going up there for else I'm going to turn you into a cat stole!"

"Yeep!" Sebastian shouted, and immediately raced for the bridge work. He couldn't believe he was doing this. He got to the top of one of the towers and began looking around. While he was doing that, the others found the pedestrian gate to the bridge.

"Oh look!" Melody shouted, looking at the sign on the gate. "Here's another index card with a bunch of numbers on it. That must be our next clue."

"Good work, Melody," Josie said.

"You can come down now, Sebastian!" Alan shouted. "We found the next clue down here!"

Sebastian glared at Alan, and threw him a look that clearly said "_Now _you tell me!" Of course, Alan couldn't see it. He climbed down from the tower, and raced to his friends. Then he jumped onto Melody's shoulder to read the next clue.

**3696 29 843 229**

"Let's try to figure this one out," Josie said with a sigh.

"At least it isn't as long as the last one," Alexandra commented.

The gang sighed, and got right down to work. Finally, Alan had it.

"The only thing that makes sense to me is down by the bay," he said.

"Oh, I love that song!" Melody shouted. Then she began singing. "Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow. Back to my home, I dare not go. For if I do, my mother would say . . . ."

"Knock it off, Melody!" Alexandra shouted.

"Actually, that's what my mother _would_ say every time I started singing that song," Melody said, then she giggled.

"Well, here we go again," Valerie said. "Any ideas on where we go this time?"

"Down by the bay, silly!" Melody giggled again. "The clue says so!"

"Oh brother," Alexandra groaned.

"Actually, that's what we're going to do," Alan said, eyeing a fishing boat down at a dock. "Let's go!"

The quintet (plus Sebastian) ran over to the boat, climbed aboard, and began looking for clues. Valerie found another index card taped to the smokestack.

"The Mastermind is starting to get careless," she said once she regrouped with the others. "He left this one in a place where we could easily find it."

"Good," Alexandra said. "Maybe he'll give us a better clue this time around."

"No such luck," Valerie sighed.

**7663844647 34749**

"If we ever find that Mastermind," Alexandra said. "I'll wring his neck!"

"Mrooowww," Sebastian growled in agreement.

"Well, let's get started cracking it," Josie said, pulling out her notepad and pencil.

The group got to work. Sebastian finished first, and practically shoved the piece of paper he tore from Alexandra's notebook into her face.

"Looks like Sebastian's figured it out," she said, as she picked him up. "He has something's fishy."

"Good going, Sebastian," Alan said. "Now, we just have to figure out where to go."

Sebastian jumped out of Alexandra's hold, and ran to a sign nearby. It read "Fisherman's Wharf." Sebastian began jumping up and down, meowing, and pointing at it.

"Fisherman's Wharf," Valerie said. "That's it! Come on, everybody! Something's telling me we're closing in!"

The gang ran to the wharf and split up to look for anything that looked like a clue. Sebastian had wandered into the fish market. He sniffed around a little, and dove into a bucket full of tuna. The others groaned.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Sebastian!" Alexandra groaned.

A big, burly fisherman saw Sebastian, and grabbed him my the scruff of the neck. He then turned to Alan and the four girls.

"Is this yours?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," Alexandra grumbled. "Just send my father the bill for any damage he's caused."

Alexandra wrote down the necessary information for the fisherman, and the group left. Sebastian snickered, still holding the tuna in his mouth.

"Sebastian, this is no time for a snack," Melody said. "We've got to find Alex!"

"Yeah, Sebastian," Alexandra said, dropping her cat, and yanking the fish out of his mouth. "Besides, this thing smells awful!"

"Wait a minute!" Josie shouted. "I think there's something in that fish's mouth!"

"What is it?" Alexandra asked. "A hook?"

"No," Josie said, pulling an index card out of the fish. "It's another clue. Good going, Sebastian! Here you go!"

Josie threw the fish back to Sebastian. The black and white cat immediately began to help himself to his tuna treat. Josie read off the numbers on the card.

**968 ****226 8862**** 74266 263 968 ****226 8862**** 3474**

"Another long one," she said. "I wonder why some of the numbers are underlined?"

"I'll bet it's part of the clue," Valerie said. "Come on, let's get cracking!"


	7. Trapped Like Rats

The group worked at a feverish pace. They were hoping they hadn't already run out of time. Something was telling them this was the moment of truth.

"I've got it!" Valerie shouted. "It says you can tuna piano, and you can tuna fish."

"Are we going to a music store?" Melody asked. "They could probably tune a piano. But everyone knows you _can't_ tune a fish!"

"No, Melody," Valerie said. "It's spelled T-U-N-A. Like tuna fish. And with two-two-six, eight-eight-six-two underlined twice, the emphasis is in can tuna."

"Can tuna," Alan said.

"Can tuna what?" Melody asked. "Tune a piano?"

"No," Alan said. "I think I've got it. Canned tuna. I'll bet the Mastermind is talking about a cannery!"

"Right," Valerie said. "And I know of an old factory near here that used to can tuna fish! Come on, everybody!"

The gang raced out of the wharf and headed to the cannery Valerie was thinking of. When they arrived, they saw the car the Mastermind had drove off in the day before. Alan tried to open the front doors, but they were locked.

"There's got to be a way to get inside," he said.

"How do we know we have the right place?" Alexandra asked. "It could be a trick!"

"Alexandra's right," Valerie said. "We have to make sure we're not walking into a trap."

"Look up there," Josie said, pointing. "There's some windows. If I climb up on your shoulders, Alan, maybe I'll be able to see inside."

"Great idea, Josie," Alan said.

"_I'll _ get up on Alan's shoulders," Alexandra said, shoving Josie aside. There wasn't any time to argue, so the others just went along with it. Unfortunately, Alexandra couldn't reach the window.

"We have to think of a way to get higher," Alan said.

"I know," Valerie said, and she started to climb up Alan, in order to get on Alexandra's shoulders. "Come on, Melody! You're next. And Josie, you come up after Melody. I think that ought to do it."

"Good thinking, Val!" Josie shouted as Melody climbed up.

With all five of them acting as a human ladder, Josie was able to see inside the window.

"Do you see anything, Josie?" Alan asked.

"No sign of Alex or the Mastermind," Josie said, looking around. "All I see is a conveyor belt . . . . and a tin can on it. . . . and it's underneath this giant hammer thing . . . maybe to cram the tuna into the cans, I don't know. Hold it! A door's opening inside!"

Josie watched, while the others tried to maintain their balance. After several seconds, Josie let out a gasp.

"It's him!" she shouted. "It's the Mastermind! He's got Alex tied up and he's carrying him to the conveyor belt!"

"Nobody make a sound!" Alan warned. "He might hear us!"

Luckily for them, the Mastermind was too preoccupied inside to notice what was going on outside. He laid Alex onto the conveyor belt, and fastened a leather strap over his arms, and another one over his legs, and tightened them as hard as he could. Alex struggled, but he couldn't break loose. Between the ropes and the leather straps, he was secured too tightly.

"Now then," he said. "You were wondering earlier what I was going to do with you. It's time for you to find out."

The Mastermind walked over to a big control panel and pulled a lever. The big hammer-like instrument was activated and it smashed down on the tin can with a loud CRASH!, flattening it like a pancake. The Mastermind pulled the lever again, and it stopped. He picked up the can, and held it up for Alex to see. Alex gulped.

"All is going according to plan," the Mastermind said, walking back to the controls. He pulled the lever to activate the crusher, and then pulled another one to activate the conveyor belt. Alex let out a scream, but it wouldn't do him any good, since he still had that piece of duct tape covering his mouth.

"Oh no!" Josie moaned.

"What's the matter, Josie?" Alan asked.

"The Mastermind's tied Alex to the conveyor belt!" Josie shouted. "That hammer thing is a can crusher!"

"Oh golly," Melody said, sounding nervous. "He'll be smashed into chicken casserole!"

"Oh no he won't!" Alexandra shouted. "We've got to get in there!"

"Alexandra, hold still!" Valerie shouted.

"Look out below!" Josie shouted, as she lost her balance completely. Unfortunately, the others did too, and crashed into a pile of empty tuna fish cans that were stacked up outside. The Mastermind heard the racket, and looked towards the window.

"Sounds like we have company," he said. "I'd better go prepare a reception committee for them."

The Mastermind laughed under his breath, and ran off, leaving Alex slowly moving his way towards his doom.

"Now's our chance!" Alan said. "We'd better find a way in fast!"

Sebastian began meowing his head off, indicating something around the back of the factory. The others followed, and found an open door and ran through it. They ran down a flight of stairs until they got to to the conveyor belt. Alex heard them coming. He glanced up at his friends. He began shaking his head vigorously, yelling something, but the others couldn't make out what it was. Valerie ran over to the controls and pulled the levers to stop the conveyor belt and the crusher. The others ran over to Alex. Alan and Alexandra unfastened the straps holding him to the belt, and Josie and Melody pulled him into a sitting position.

"Hang on, Alex," Josie said, as she started to pull the tape off his mouth slowly. "We'll get you out of this in a minute." Alex continued yelling.

"You know, I think he's trying to tell us something," Melody said.

"Once I get this tape off, then he'll tell us," Josie said, still trying to pull off the tape as slowly as possible.

"Oh Josie, you're such a slowpoke!" Alexandra shouted, pushing Josie aside. "You know what a hurry we're in! Let me do it!"

"Wait, Alexandra!" Josie shouted.

But Alexandra wouldn't listen. She grabbed the tape and ripped it off with one good yank.

"YEEOUCH!" Alex screamed.

"That's why I was trying to take it off slowly," Josie said, glaring at Alexandra. Alex shook his head out to regain his composure, and then looked at his friends.

"You guys gotta get out of here!" he shouted. "It's a trap!"

"A trap?" Alan repeated.

Before anything else could happen, a giant fishing net dropped on Josie and the others.

"Hey!" Melody yelled.

"What's going on?!" Valerie shouted.

"Let us out!" Josie yelled.

A few moments later, none other than the Mastermind walked down a flight of steps, laughing sinisterly.

"I knew you'd find this place sooner or later," he said, walking over to the conveyor belt. He pushed Alex back into a laying position and fastened the straps over him once more.

"Now that I have all of you meddlers here," he said. "I will have my revenge! One at a time, I will send you all on a short trip on this conveyor belt. I'm sure you'll all find it quite smashing."

"Very funny," Alexandra said, sarcastically. "You'll never get away with this, you creep!"

"I already have," the Mastermind said. "You are all my prisoners, and there is no one to help you, now."

The Mastermind laughed, and started up the conveyor belt again. Alex writhed around, trying to pull himself free, but it was no use. And the others were in no position to help him, either.


	8. Showdown

"What are we going to do?" Josie asked.

"I don't know," Valerie said, with a sigh. "It looks like this is the end of the Pussycats!"

"Somebody better do something fast!" Alan shouted, as he and the girls tried to pull the net off.

"Meow," a familar voice cried out from up on the catwalk.

"Hey look," Josie said, quietly, so the Mastermind wouldn't hear her. "It's Sebastian!"

"Don't just stand there, you fuzzy faced flea bag!" Alexandra hissed. "Get us out of here!"

Sebastian snuck down to the floor, and darted over to the others. He used his claws to cut a slit in the net so Alan and the girls could get out, but they didn't escape just yet.

"Sebastian, you get the Mastermind away from the conveyor belt controls," Valerie said. "You have to distract him so we can stop that thing and get Alex off that conveyor belt. And hurry!"

"Meow!" Sebastian said, standing on his hind legs and saluting.

Sebastian ran to the Mastermind, and jumped up on the controls. Then he crossed his eyes and waved his paws at the Mastermind, and gave him a raspberry. Then he snickered and ran off.

"Why you little . . . ." the Mastermind said, chasing after him. Sebastian led him out of the room.

"Now's our chance!" Alan shouted, as he and the girls ran out of the net and raced to the controls.

"Hurry!" Alex shouted. He was seconds away from the crusher. Valerie pulled the levers on the controller, and the machines stopped in the nick of time. The crusher was about two inches from Alex's face.

"Thanks, Val," Alex said, breathing of relief. "Normally, I like my clothes pressed, but not while I'm wearing them!"

"Save the thanks," Valerie said, as she and the others untied Alex and pulled him off the belt. "We'd better regroup with Sebastian and split!"

"Right," Alan said. "And then we'll go to the police!"

"You meddling kids aren't going anywhere," the Mastermind said, as he returned to the room, carrying Sebastian by the scruff of his neck.

"Looks like you're losing your touch, Sebastian," Alexandra said.

"And mark my words," the Mastermind said. "This time, you will not escape!"

"Roooowwwrrrr!" Sebastian grunted, and he swung himself over the Mastermind's arm, and bit him, and then clawed him.

"Yeeouch!" he yelled.

"Let's get out of here!" Alex shouted.

The Pussycats and their friends ran off. The Mastermind followed.

(_Insert Your Favorite Josie & The Pussycats Song Here for the Chase Scene_)

The group ran down a long corridor, and found two doorways. They decided to split up. That way, it would be harder for the Mastermind to catch them. Josie, Valerie, and Alan ran through one doorway, up a flight of stairs, and onto the catwalk. Melody, Alex, Alexandra, and Sebastian went into another room and found another conveyor belt. Moments later, the Mastermind came into the room as well. Melody, Alex, and Alexandra jumped on the conveyor belt, and Sebastian turned it on. The Mastermind jumped on the belt, and ran after Melody, Alex, and Alexandra. Quickly, Melody, Alex, and Alexandra jumped off. Sebastian pulled another lever, and the conveyor belt began to speed up. The Mastermind was about to jump off the conveyor belt, when he suddenly slammed into the wall, fell off the belt, and onto the floor. The conveyor belt led to a small opening in the wall, too small for a person to go through. Melody, Alex, and Alexandra ran off. Sebastian snickered at the Mastermind, before joining the others.

Once the Mastermind regained his senses, the chase was on again. He chased the three kids out into another part of the factory, which led to a dead end. Alan, Josie, and Valerie spotted them from up on the catwalk. Valerie grabbed a rope that had a hook tied onto it. Josie and Alan did the same. They swung down, and plowed into the Mastermind, knocking him off his feet. Then, Alan hooked Alex, Valerie hooked Melody, and Josie hooked Alexandra and Sebastian, and the group swung back up to the catwalk, and ran for it. The Mastermind was not amused. He climbed up a ladder, and reached the catwalk, chasing after Josie and the gang. The gang grabbed onto the hooks, and swung down to the ground, and then ran off. The Mastermind did the same thing. The cats ran through another doorway, with the Mastermind hot on their heels. Unfortunately, it was another dead end, and the Mastermind had them cornered. But fate was on the side of the Pussycats. Sebastian noticed the Mastermind was standing by yet another conveyor belt. He jumped up, claws bared, and jumped. He threw his entire weight into his jump, and managed to push the Mastermind onto the conveyor belt. Valerie ran over to the controls, and pulled a lever. The Conveyor belt started, and the Mastermind started moving towards a giant cutting machine. The Mastermind tried to out run it, but he was going nowhere fast on the conveyor belt. Valerie turned the conveyor belt off, and the Mastermind ran straight into a pile of cardboard boxes, some of which filled with cans. Josie and Alexandra grabbed one of the empty boxes, and thrust it over the Mastermind's head.

(_Song fades out here. Chase scene is over_)

"Well, gang," Alan said. "I guess this wraps up the Mastermind."

"Now let's take him to the police," Valerie said. "And then get back to the hotel."

"Mark my words," the Mastermind grumbled. "I'll get you meddling kids. And you're little cat, too!"

"Wrong show," Alexandra replied.

Sebastian merely snickered.

Hours later, the Mastermind was in jail, and the Pussycats and their friends were back at the hotel. The girls and Sebastian were sitting at the hotel's restaurant telling Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Humboldt about what happened. The boys weren't around.

"At least we don't have to worry about the Mastermind," Josie said. "Thanks to those photos Robert snapped of the crime scene, we had all the proof we needed to send him to prison."

"Golly, I'm just glad it's all over," Melody said. "The Mastermind is in jail, and we're all safe and sound."

"Say, where are the boys, anyway?" Josie asked.

"Oh they're in the basement with Robert," Mr. Kennedy said. "He sometimes uses one of the rooms in the basement as a dark room when he's in town. He should be developing those photos of the Pussycats."

The girls went down into the basement and found the room Robert used as a dark room. Josie knocked on the door.

"Alan? Alex? Are you guys in there?" she asked.

"Yeah, but don't open the door!" Alan called.

"I'm developing more photos," Robert said. "If you open the door, the light could ruin them."

"Okay, we'll dig you guys later," Josie said, as she, Melody, and Valerie left. Alexandra staid behind, and listened to the conversation going on inside.

"These are really great photos, Robert," Alan said.

"Yeah, I can't believe the guy at _Teen Scene Magazine_ liked only one of the girls," Alex said.

"I know," Robert said. "But this was the girl he wanted. He said she had the most unique look of all four of them. Think we can talk her into a photoshoot? The guy at _Teen Scene_ said she could be their next biggest model."

"I don't think we'll have any problems convincing her," Alan commented.

"Yeah, that's for sure," Alex said. "She'll be thrilled to learn this."

"Just so long as I get these photos in by tomorrow," Robert said. "I don't have the time to retake them."

"Hmph," Alexandra grumbled. "They'll probably talking about Josie. Well, I'll show her. I'll just open the door and ruin those photos of her that they're developing. Then he won't have anything to send the _Teen Scene_ editors!"

Alexandra turned the doorknob, and flung open the door. As an added measure, she turned on one of the overhead lights.

"Surprise!" she shouted.

"Alexandra!" Alex shouted.

"My photos!" Robert yelled, as the light began to wipe out all the photos Robert had taken. "Oh brother, Alexandra, what did you just do?!"

"Oh what a shame," Alexandra said, sarcastically. She walked over to see just exactly which photos of Josie he was developing. But they turned out to be photos of her!

"Huh?!" she shouted. "You're developing photos of _me_?!"

"Right, Sis," Alex said. "The guys at _Teen Scene_ thought you were the best looking girl out of all four of you. Too bad you went and opened the door. You would have had a big career as a super model if you hadn't."

"I guess I'll have to send the editor pictures of the Pussycats instead," Robert said, indicating his silver camera case, where he had photos of the Pussycats, already developed. "I don't have the time to retake the photos of you, Alexandra. These are completely ruined, and I haven't had time to do the negatives, either."

And with that, the boys left Robert's makeshift dark room. Alexandra clenched her fists.

"Ooohhhh!" she growled.

Sebastian sat there, and snickered.

The End


End file.
